Kris rubbed at their chin as they looked at the wall in front of them, trying their best to visualize a path from one of the little mouseholes and towards the other. Their gazes briefly danced across an invisible line which led from the left most holes, went over to a set of blocks which were positioned right in front of it, and then towards the right hole which seemed to be an exit of sorts.
Clearly, it was a puzzle, if a simple one at that.
Noelle was currently seated upon one of the blocks, looking off at a sparking electric barrier that sat off to the side, blocking their path. There was a vacant look in her eyes. She seemed hollow, far more tired than she usually was.
``What's up with her?'' a voice called from within Kris' mind.
This was the Soul.
``I don't know,'' Kris whispered, keeping their voice low enough to try and be discreet. ``This is probably just a lot for her to take in.'' They scoffed. ``We are literally in a strange and magical world, after all. She's probably just trying to adjust to the weirdness of it.''
``I don't know, she kind of has this whole Stockholm thing going on that I'm not entirely sure that I like,'' the Soul replied.
Kris snorted and moved towards one of the blocks. This was the one that Noelle wasn't seated upon. It came up to about their shoulder but seemed to be made from a material that didn't look impossibly heavy. So, they threw their weight into it and began to shift it to the side.
``How are you holding up, Noelle?'' they asked.
Noelle blinked and looked at them. A vacant smile started to form upon her lips, tugging at the edges of it. Her expression was incredibly eerie, unnatural even. This wasn't the kind of thing that they liked to see in the slightest.
``Yep, she is totally Stockholmed,'' the Soul murmured.
Noelle glanced at the electric barrier. ``I think I know how we can get through this.''
``Oh yeah?'' Kris asked, grunting as they continued to shift the block to the side. It was hard work, heavy enough to make a sheen of sweat start to glisten upon their brow. ``What do you have in mind?''
``I must become stronger,'' Noelle muttered, almost like she was speaking to herself.
The soul snorted. ``Okay, what did you do to her?''
``Nothing,'' Kris hissed as they glared at the little red prick who lingered over their shoulder. ``This is totally something that you did.''
``Nuh uh...'' the soul retorted, scoffing. ``I've only interacted with this girl for maybe two hours tops. No way that this is something that I did. So, you better own up to your shit, Dreemurr.''
Noelle looked at them and tilted her head to the side, saying nothing. She looked so void, so distant. The blankness of her personhood was enough to make a chill crawl its way up Kris' spine as they shuddered at the sight.
``Sorry,'' Kris said, grunting as they gave the block one last little shove to finally get it into place. ``Just talking to myself.''
``Will you help me become stronger, Kris?'' Noelle asked.
``Uh... like...'' Kris looked down at themself and their little noodle body. ``I think you're asking the wrong person here, Noelle. How about we get you back home and then we can ask Undyne about it? I bet she has some pretty good workout regimes if you're serious about this.''
``That's not what I meant, Kris,'' Noelle replied, offering a crooked smile. ``I don't want to be scared anymore. I know one of you two can help me overcome that.''
The Soul sucked in a phantom breath. ``What the fuck, can she see me?''
Kris cocked a brow. ``One of you two?'' They flashed a smile and gave their head a purposeful little shake. ``Oh! Do you mean Susie? Yeah, I bet that she can help with that sort of stuff. That girl is pretty fucking jacked.''
``No, not Susie,'' Noelle said, holding onto that smile as they looked directly behind Kris, at a spot just above their left shoulder.
For Kris, there was a little red heart there, beating away. Yet, from their experience, everyone else should've perceived that space as being void.
Could Noelle see the...
``Dude, she can see me,'' the Soul hissed.
Kris glanced over their shoulder at the Soul before looking back at Noelle again. ``Come on, get off of the block, Noelle. I think I finally figured out this puzzle.''
``Me too,'' Noelle said, pushing herself off of the block as she got to her hooves. She didn't push it, however, as she instead started to approach the electric barrier. ``I just need to become stronger for you, my Knight.''
Kris followed her with their gaze. ``Okay, I think I know what you mean now.''
``I think Queen fucked her up,'' the Soul murmured. ``There's no other way to really describe what the fuck is going on here.''
``Just a little,'' Kris replied, throwing their entire body weight into the block. ``Noelle, do you mind helping me with...''
They paused as they noticed her continuing to approach the electric field. Her hands were extended, reaching out for it as if she were seriously considering touching it.
...
Oh god, she was actually going to touch it.
``Hurry the fuck up,'' the Soul hissed. ``I'm a vegetarian.''
``What does that have to do with anything,'' Kris growled, throwing themselves into the block, once again. It took a bit of muscle and plenty of effort before they finally started to shift it to the side, inching it into the spot that they needed it to be in.
``It means that I'll get sick if I have to smell fried venison!'' the Soul shouted back. ``And I think your friend is getting a little too much of the good ole fashion suicidal ideation for my liking.''
``Noelle what are you doing?'' Kris called.
``Proving that I'm strong enough for you,'' Noelle murmured, still inching towards the countless amps of deadly electricity.
Kris cursed under their breath as they managed to slam the block into place, quickly scanning to make sure that the path from one mousehole to the next was going to be properly aligned in order to direct whatever came out of one of them into the other.
All the while, Noelle inched towards the electric barrier, extending her hand and reaching out for it. Her gaze was vacant, distant, and far off into space. Did she really not realize that this was an extension of reality?
``I really feel like I might've fucked something up with the reset,'' the Soul chided.
Kris huffed. ``The what?''
``Oh, you don't feel those?'' the Soul asked, chuckling nervously to themself. ``Maybe it's better if I didn't tell you about them. Might uh... might make our working relationship a little less sustainable, you know?''
``Well, you hinted at it, you dickhead,'' Kris grumbled. ``So, I'd appreciate it if you explained yourself.''
They rushed over to the call button and hammered their fist into it, sighing in relief as a stream of little purple mice came shooting out. The troupe scurried right under Noelle's hooves as they hit the first block, being redirected into the second, before finally going into the other mousehole.
It was one strangeness after another as Kris seemed to recall that Noelle was terrified of mice, yet she endured the stream with barely a twitch in her complexion.
``Look, I might have this way of um...'' the Soul sighed. ``Ok, so like, don't get mad, or anything, but I might be able to reset the natural train of events to a few key points and then relive them over and over again until I get the most ideal outcome.''
Kris blinked. ``What?''
As the mice hit the other hole, the barrier ceased with its relentless crackle, going silent once more.
Noelle perked up and looked surprised by this development. She then looked at Kris, still being devoid of any expression. Yet, before she could comment on the matter, she promptly winced and clutched a hand to her temple as she tried to massage out any lingering pain. ``Kris?''
``Hey Noelle!'' Kris called, unable to hide their sigh of relief. ``Glad that you're okay.''
``I feel funny,'' Noelle grumbled, shaking her head.
``I'm just saying that I've never really seen Noelle act this way before. This is probably like my third time navigating this room and I've never seen her go all brain broke on us,'' the Soul explained. ``And we haven't really done anything different until this point.''
Kris glared at them. ``So, you're telling me that you knew how to solve this puzzle?''
The Soul chuckled and went silent, pondering their response. ``I uh... I didn't want to rob you of the satisfaction of a job well done?''
``And why did you even reset time anyways?'' Kris asked, making their way over to Noelle.
``Okay, so like you're going to come across this shopping district with Noelle which has a tea vendor in it,'' the Soul explained. ``Last time I went through there, I didn't think to stock up on a certain flavour of tea for later and wasn't able to get more of it by the time that I needed it.''
``You...'' Kris wanted to laugh but had to restrain themself as Noelle was now within earshot. As such, they softly hissed at the Soul, their voice barely a whisper. ``You fucked with the natural flow of time because you wanted a fucking cup of tea?''
``Well when you say it like that, it does sound just a little obsessive,'' the Soul murmured. ``I mostly just wanted to make sure that everyone got to try all of the flavours.'' They paused. ``It was for science.''
Kris didn't respond, didn't know where to even begin. They instead closed the distance between themself and Noelle. The girl didn't look in the best shape as she clutched at her arms, rubbing at them. Her gaze darted around, frantically searching her surroundings as if this were her first time actually acknowledging them.
``Everything okay?'' Kris asked.
Noelle nodded. ``I just... I don't know what came over me.''
``Yeah, it was a little dicey there for a minute,'' Kris said, looking at the now deactivated electric barrier. ``It can be a little easy to lose track of reality when you're in a place like this, you know?'' They reached out and placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. ``But we're going to get through this, okay?''
``Swear to god, I think whatever higher power manages this place is fucking with me,'' the Soul grumbled.
Kris ignored the voice.
Though the Soul apparently didn't care. ``Like I've heard rumours of a certain degree of randomness in between universes but I've never heard of something this big being changed before. It's like... I don't... I'm sure she's fine.'' They sighed. ``Let's keep going.''
Kris smiled at Noelle. ``I'm going to get you through this, Noelle, okay?''
Noelle reached out and took Kris' hand, giving it a firm squeeze. ``Thanks, Kris.'' She glanced ahead. ``Shall I proceed?''
Kris chuckled and shook their head. ``Proceed? Why proceed?'' They sighed and motioned ahead. ``Sure, go ahead and proceed.''
Noelle?s smile immediately slipped and she once more stared vacantly ahead. Still, there was no chance to question this as she let go of Kris' hand and once more continued ahead, marching down the back alley like a body possessed.
Kris didn't like this, didn't like it one bit. Still, they followed after her, spotting a little imp floating in the distance. It was one of those little medics who kept trying to inject them with strange syringes.
``You should probably give her the rundown on how to fight a battle?'' the Soul suggested.
Kris nodded and snapped their fingers together, hurrying ahead to keep pace with Noelle. ``Okay, so here is how this is going to work. We're going to start a battle with this little guy. I'm going to tell you what to do and you'll do it. This will make him happy and he'll then attack, which we'll try and dodge. Then we'll just spare the guy and go our separate ways. Think of it like play fighting, okay?''
``Tell her that the attack is going to be like something out of the Touhou Project. I bet she'll love that reference,'' the Soul said, bumping into Kris' side.
Kris rolled their eyes. ``The counterattack is going to be like something out of the Touhou Project.''
Noelle blinked and looked at them. ``What method of attack should I use, my knight?''
``Okay, what the fuck, she's supposed to fucking love weeb shit,'' the Soul grumbled, the edge of something lingering in their voice. Was it worry? It almost sounded like it was worry. ``I think something is seriously wrong with this girl.''
Kris scoffed, trying to keep their voice low. ``Dead sister, dying dad, and a questionably supportive mother? Add onto that the fact that she's hormonal and dreaming about Susie shoving eight-inches of...''
The Soul loudly cleared their non-existent throat. ``I meant something is wrong on the fundamental level of the universe. I think something is triggering her to act like this.''
``Alright, so our best course of action is to treat that imp with medicine,'' Kris explained, ignoring their partner as they looked at Noelle. ``He seems to feel really comfortable around nurses and that puts him at ease.''
Noelle blinked.
``Try saying proceed,'' the Soul offered. ``I have a theory... a game...''
``Proceed!'' Kris barked, wanting nothing less than to hear the end of the Soul's asinine statement.
The Soul snickered and Kris ensured that they threw an icy glare in their direction. Of all the things they hated about this creature, it was their affinity for shitty memes which was by far the worst.
Noelle seemed to take the order as she nodded and approached the imp. The little guy floated there and looked at her, offering a beaming smile and a polite wave. All Noelle had to do was reach into her pocket and grab the medicine. something which she... she wasn't doing... why wasn't she...
Instead, she extended her hands as if she planned to hug it.
``Noelle!'' Kris called. ``Remember the plan.''
Noelle flashed an eerie smile. ``I'll remember, my knight.''
``Why does she keep saying that,'' the Soul groaned, shuddering in its post directly next to Kris. ``I'm seriously getting some legitimate mind control vibes from this girl. Kris, question...''
``Yeah?'' Kris asked.
The Soul sighed. ``Any chance that you've seen her F-list...''
Kris was about to open their mouth and ask what the fuck that even meant. Yet, before they even had the chance, Noelle finally got within range of the little creature. The darkner seemed so utterly confused, kind of watching this unfold with a level of passive interest. It even looked up at Kris who shrugged at it, unsure of what to tell it.
Then it all happened so fast.
There was a spark, a crackle in the very atmosphere itself. There was then a bright flash of light, blinding enough to make Kris look away. As the brightness faded, and they looked back, the little imp stared at them in an eternal horror, speechless as it looked out upon the entourage who had approached it. It was trapped in a solid block of clear blue ice, forever preserved in this gruesome state.
``Noelle!'' Kris shouted. ``What the fuck?''
``I dealt with the enemy,'' Noelle said, turning to face Kris. She flashed that same strained and forever uncomfortable smile as she tilted her head purposefully to the side. ``Aren't you happy?''
``That was not the plan!'' Kris shouted.
``Totally not the plan,'' the Soul agreed. ``What the fuck did you do to this girl when you threw me in a fucking cage.''
``Oh, this is not my fault, you fucking prick,'' Kris snarled, turning on their heels in order to firmly jab a finger into the fleshy surface of the heart. This turned out to be a terrible idea as the number ten flashed above them and Kris felt a sharp pain immediately erupt from within their chest. ``FUCK!''
``Way to go dipshit, you damaged yourself,'' the Soul grumbled. ``I'm resetting the timeline. This is beyond fucked. This some creepypasta ass bullshit and I'm not dealing with this creepypasta ass bullshit. It's a Friday night, I don't work in the morning and I just want to chill with weed and...''
``You don't even have a mouth for weed,'' Kris groaned, gritting their teeth as the pain was slow to let up.
``I'd make you smoke it then,'' the Soul declared, huffing. ``Lord knows that you have plenty.''
The pain was finally gone and Kris grinned sheepishly at the heart. ``What?''
``Oh, don't play dumb, I know that you're stealing from Azzy's stash,'' the Soul rebutted, sighing. ``I might lack eyes but that doesn't mean that I don't see. And even if I didn't see, the smell is kind of a dead giveaway, dude.''
``The smell?'' Kris whined.
``Yeah, the smell! I'm honestly surprised that Toriel hasn't called you out on...'' the Soul began.
Kris sighed. ``Fuck.''
``Aren't you happy, my Knight?'' Noelle asked.
Kris stirred as they looked up and saw that she was waiting attentively, rocking back and forth on her heels in a spot right next to the massive hunk of ice which she had created. They swore that the eyes of the creatures inside were still moving, following them as they started to approach. It was enough to make them shudder, forcing their gaze away from it and onto Noelle instead. Not that her vacant expression was that much better of a sight to be transfixed on.
That hollow smile was still etched onto her lips, looking so eerie in quality.
``I think some wires might've gotten crossed here,'' Kris said, holding out their open hands as they inched towards her. ``It seems that when I said that you should offer medicine to the darkner, you heard that as uh...''
``Freeze him in a giant block of ice?'' Noelle asked.
Kris nodded quickly. ``Yes! You seem to have misunderstood me telling you that you needed to give him medicine as me telling you to uh... freeze him in a giant block of ice.'' They reached out and carefully took both of those murderous little hands, pressing them down to Noelle's sides and pinning them in place. ``And I'd really like there not to be any repeats of this little incident because I have a feeling that Ralsei would be super pissed if he found out about this.''
``Maybe it's the word proceed,'' the Soul murmured. ``Maybe that's like some kind of MK Ultra buzzword that activates her murderous intent.'' They scoffed. ``Or maybe this is kind of like frying ants with a magnifying glass for her? I knew a girl whose parents got divorced growing up. She used to pull the legs off of fucking frogs because of it.''
Kris flinched at the mental image before looking back at Noelle. ``Now, let's just keep going and forget that this ever happened, okay?''
Noelle smiled. ``Okay!''
Kris looked up and saw that a petrified darkner who appeared to be a walking hammer stood at the entrance of the back alley. He was looking in upon them in utter horror.
``Yo, dude,'' Kris called, waving at him. ``This isn't what it looks like. This is all just some big...''
``There's a fucking murder!'' the hammer shouted, looking over his shoulders. ``Guys, the lightners just fucking murdered a dude.''
Suddenly a few more hammers looked down the alley. There were now a whole lot of witnesses staring in upon the fresh horror which Noelle had created.
Kris sighed. ``Shit.''
Noelle lifted her hands. ``Shall I deal with them, my knight?''
Kris held up their hand. ``Not yet.'' They then looked at the darkners, gesturing towards them. ``Are you guys going to rat us out to Ralsei?''
``What the fuck?'' one of the hammers asked, scoffing at the idea. ``Of course, we're going to tell Ralsei, he's going to be super pissed that you did this.''
``I think she has to murder them, dude,'' the Soul whispered.
Kris nodded. ``Yeah...'' They looked at Noelle. ``Okay, okay, fine, proceed. But after that, we're going on a killing t-break, understood?''
Noelle's smile returned. It was carved into her very complexion, etching itself into her face from ear-to-ear. She extended both of her hands and advanced on the assembled darkners, absently marching towards them.
``Yes, my knight.''
[hr]
``Dude what happened to a killing t-break,'' the Soul hissed.
Kris winced as they watched Noelle inspecting yet another block of ice, rapping her knuckles against the surface of it. The being inside didn't move though its eyes once more followed Kris as they continued on by.
``I know that it's getting a little out of hand but like it's not my fault that there just keeps being more and more witnesses.'' They sighed. ``I can't let Ralsei know that I fucked up or he is going to be like insanely pissed with me, you know?''
``I can literally just reset the timeline,'' the Soul offered. ``Go back to this morning and we can both pretend that none of this really happened. Surely, that has to be better than whatever weird bullshit you're trying to pull with Noelle.''
``This is fine,'' Kris said, holding out their hands. If they said it enough times then maybe they would actually start to believe it. ``We'll just get through this little adventure and then I'm sure that we can totally think of a way to unfreeze these dudes later.''
Noelle came back over with almost a bounce in her step, still offering that same eerie little smile. It had almost been a permanent fixture since the first darkner, unwavering as each block of ice seemed to make it grow just a little more.
``I really don't like the way that she's looking at us,'' the Soul murmured. It was tense, the heart actually shuddering at the sight. ``I really really think we should try and cut our losses here. Look I think that I have an idea.''
Kris nodded, motioning for them to continue. On the surface, they simply smiled at Noelle, trying their best to hide the fact that they were shaking.
``Thanks for taking care of that Noelle,'' they said, nodding towards an alley. ``But I think that was just about all of the witnesses.''
``OH GOD!'' a voice called. ``THEY'RE ALL DEAD!''
Noelle snapped towards the source of the screaming with her hands extended and that same eerie blue mana just seeping from her fingers. It erupted from them in little flurries of snow which burst away from her digits. Her spells had been getting larger and larger, seemingly feeding into that mantra that she was actually getting stronger from all of this.
Maybe even stronger than them...
The thought made Kris shudder.
``Okay so are you familiar with the villain, Mister Mxyzpltk?'' the Soul asked.
``Did you just have a stroke,'' Kris whispered.
The Soul sighed. ``No, no, no, it's this character from a comic. He has this like weakness where if you get him to say his name backwards, he'll lose all his power.'' There was a pause, the handless entity clearly attempting to grasp at straws. ``And like... okay... so... you know how she went full MK Ultra after you said proceed.''
``Are you saying that if I say `proceed'...'' Kris began.
Noelle perked up at that and lifted both of her hands. The mana around them intensified as literal ice started to form from her fingers, breaking off in icicles.
``Down girl!'' Kris barked.
Noelle frowned but lowered her hands, casting her gaze towards the ground instead.
``Are you saying that if I say that backwards, it'll disarm her?'' Kris asked, shaking their head. They blew a burst of air into their cheek as they chewed on their lip. ``That's insane.''
``I don't know about that.'' The Soul sighed. ``I'm just spitballing some ideas here and hoping that something sticks, you know? Just try it, okay?''
``I'm not trying it,'' Kris said. ``How do we know that it won't just make things worse?''
They stepped into the alley, happy to see that Noelle followed behind. It was also good to see that there weren't any darkners down here, not one of them being present amongst the garbage or refuse. This was a bastion, a place to think up a new game plan for getting through this.
There was what? Ten... twenty murders so far? Surely, Ralsei could be talked into overlooking something that small, right?
Right...
Kris sighed.
``Dude, I swear, just let me reset this,'' the Soul said.
Kris growled and wheeled around, thrusting their finger into the heart once again. ``I'll reset...''
Ten more points of damage erupted from above the heart, making Kris' eyes go wide. For the briefest of moments, they thought they might be spared the pain. Though a very real stabbing sensation soon erupted which made Kris clutch at their chest and sink to their knees.
``Fuck,'' they wheezed. ``Is this what a heart attack feels like?''
``Probably,'' the Soul replied, chuckling. ``I'd suggest that you stop doing that but I'm also kind of torn because it's pretty funny.''
``Fuck you,'' Kris groaned.
There was some rustling from the trashcans up ahead. The sound made Kris' heart fall as they noticed that murderous glee that still lingered inside of Noelle's eyes. The girl was practically sparking with ice magic, just looking for an excuse to send a very real force of nature flying at her enemy.
Kris threw out their arm, trying their best to still seem in control.
They were still the one in charge, right? This was still their story. They just needed to prove as much to both Noelle and that little red prick who was hovering over top of their shoulder.
``Who's out there?'' they called.
The rustling stopped.
Then the lid on the garbage bin snapped open, smacking heavy against the side of it. The abruptness of the sound was enough to make the Soul yelp, ducking behind Kris' back.
A small hand came shooting forth from the bin, holding out a simple jewelry box. There was something about that hand and the box which put Kris on edge. They both had bad vibes written all over them.
Which made a certain amount of sense. After all, not taking jewelry from people in dumpsters seemed like common sense 101.
``Okay, this save is beyond fucked, this save is so beyond fucked,'' the Soul groaned. ``What the fuck? Why is no one on Reddit talking about this? I'm about to get fucking Ben Drowned over here... I swear to fucking God this is some Godzilla NES bullshit!''
``Dude,'' Kris hissed. ``Chill for ten seconds, would you?''
``Game over, man,'' the Soul whispered. ``Game fucking over.''
It took all of Kris' willpower not to lash out and strike the guy again, feeling a fresh fire and fury bristling away within their core. Still, the chest pain was a recent memory, managing to give Kris just enough pause to save themself from another burst of self-inflicted harm.
``I have a good feeling about this,'' Noelle said as she moved over to the extended hand.
``Oh, this is what gives her a good feeling?'' the Soul yelped, cackling. ``Fuck this noise.''
Kris had to agree. This gave them the opposite of good feelings, in fact that gave them the furthest thing removed from good feelings. This singular admission sent them careening into the valley of misfortune, waiting for the shoe to finally drop.
Still, they made their way over. ``I don't know, Noelle, I don't think that we should take trinkets from strangers.''
``Oh, he's not a stranger, silly,'' Noelle beamed, focusing on that hand once more. ``We're old friends. Isn't that right?''
Another hand emerged from the dumpster, shaking as it hovered in the middle of the air. Refuse and other grisly things flaked off of it, falling to the ground. It was like this demon was shedding a garbage skin, molting their filthy flesh. Soon, the hand managed to stabilize, its joints loudly snapping as it offered an unnatural thumbs up to Kris.
This only made them shudder. ``I think we should proceed to ignore this guy, Noelle.''
``What the fuck, don't say her fucking kill code,'' the Soul hissed.
Noelle blinked, momentarily slipping into a stupor as if she were trying to process something. It took a few moments before she stirred and grabbed the box. ``Of course, my knight, I'll become stronger.''
``Wait, wait, wait, wait! That's not what I told you to...'' Kris began, growling in frustration. ``Why aren't the rules consistent?''
It was too late though as the goblin's hands soon sank back into the trash bin, being returned to the filth from which it had been born. This left Noelle holding a plain black jewelry box with no hope of returning it; a transaction without a receipt.
``Noelle you should put down the ring,'' Kris said, taking a step towards her. They held out their hands, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible, lest they join the others encased in ice. ``This whole situation just gives me bad vibes.''
Noelle smirked and glanced at them. ``Don't be silly, Kris, I think it's very important that we see what he has given me. After all, me and him have known each other just as long as you've known me.''
The way she tilted her head to the side and smiled made Kris pause, going wide eyed. They were frozen in place, legitimately petrified at this point. This situation was going to shit faster than any one should've reasonably been able to cope with.
Noelle flipped open the box and there was a ring inside, made of a gnarled thorny metal. It looked like an instrument of torture, meant to harm someone from a more barbaric time.
``Fuck, please make sure that she at least has her tetanus shots,'' the Soul whispered before pausing, probably realizing there was legitimate awe in their voice. ``Or uh... make sure that she doesn't put it on her finger in the first place. That's probably a better idea.''
Kris rolled their eyes before taking another step towards Noelle. ``Come on Noelle, give me the ring.''
``No,'' Noelle yelped, holding it against her chest. ``It's mine.''
Kris scoffed. ``I'm the team leader and I get to allocate resources.''
``But I want it!'' Noelle huffed as she stomped a hoof against the ground. It would've been kind of adorable if the prior body count wasn't fresh in mind.
Kris glared at her. ``Well, we can't always get what we want, Noelle.'' They closed the distance, just a little, taking yet another purposeful step towards her. ``Now be a good little doe and give me the fucking ring.''
``Oh, don't call her a little doe, you jackass. That's just going to make her horny,'' the Soul grumbled.
Kris scoffed. ``Dude, we're sixteen, fuck off.''
The Soul laughed. ``Yeah, sure thing, buddy. Like you can honestly tell me that you and your class aren't essentially a battle royal match where all the pickups are just brash hormonal responses. Plus, didn't you mention something about Susie's...''
Kris tuned them out.
``Come on, Kris, the ring looks so pretty,'' Noelle said, pouting out her lower lip as she threw off a dangerously intense set of puppy dog eyes. ``Are you seriously going to take this from me?''
``Noelle...'' Kris sighed, finally being able to snatch the box out of her hands. ``Do you actually see this thing? Because from where I'm standing, this looks like a fucking Saw-trap designed to give your ring finger tetanus. You can't tell me that this thing genuinely looks like something that you want to wear.''
``It's an acquired taste?'' Noelle asked, grinning sheepishly.
``An acquired taste?'' Kris asked, cocking a brow. ``Noelle, what the fuck is wrong with you?''
Noelle huffed and stomped her hoof again. ``I want to get stronger.''
``Well, I think that you're plenty strong already,'' Kris said, snapping the box's lid shut before depositing it inside of their satchel. ``And I am being the smart one in this friendship and not letting you wear it.''
``You're a dictator,'' Noelle grumbled as she stomped forward, blowing past Kris and heading back towards the mouth of the alley. ``You're a dictator, Dreemurr!'' She snarled and threw her hands into the air. ``Sic Semper Tyrannis!''
Kris sighed. ``The fuck was her problem?''
``You know, I'm proud of you for standing up to her. There was a non-zero chance that doing that would've resulted in you becoming another ice cube, you know?'' The Soul sighed. ``Let's just hope that she actually snaps out of it now.''
There was suddenly the scream of a darkner to punctuate that point. It was followed promptly by the familiar spark and flash of ice magic.
Kris looked at the Soul and they could feel the Soul stare back at them even though they lacked eyes necessary to do so.
``You know if you let me reset, I can recommend a pair of really good therapists for you and Noelle,'' the Soul tried.
Kris shoved their hands into their pockets as they stormed ahead, following in Noelle's wake. ``I can fix this!''
[hr]
``Have you ever watched Naruto, Kristopher?'' Berdly asked.
Kris blinked. ``What?''
In a flash, Berdly was gone, torn away from existence and leaving nothing but a void behind. There was suddenly an audible pop behind Kris who quickly wheeled around, barely managing to intercept an oncoming halberd swing with their shield.
``Fuck him up Kris!'' the Soul yelled.
Kris grunted and focused on Berdly, bracing themself in place and gritting their teeth tightly together. ``Why are you doing this?''
``I'm doing this to defend Noelle!'' Berdly snarled, growling as he started to indent the shield under the pressure of his weapon. ``I see what you've done to her, Kristine, and I will not have such a fair maiden exploited by scum like you any longer.''
Noelle watched in horror, holding out both of her hands. Each of them was glowing blue, ready to send out another burst of blizzard magic directly at her foe. She looked conflicted, as if knowing that her spell might cause friendly fire with the two of them engaged so close together.
``The murders, Kris!'' Berdly yelled. ``I saw the line of ice blocks from my roost in the castle. You are not exactly subtle in the chaos that you've left behind.
``Hey, hey, hey,'' the Soul said. ``That is hardly our fault. Talk to the walking Stephen King character that we've been tasked with babysitting.''
Kris grunted and pushed back with their shield, finally managing to create just a little bit of space between themself and Berdly. Instead of striking out, however, they instead cast both of their weapons aside and quickly created an intersection of a `T' with their hands. ``Timeout!''
Berdly scoffed and thrust his Halberd out, holding the pointed tip right against Kris' chin. ``There are no timeouts in hand-to-hand combat!''
``Dude, timeout,'' Kris repeated, rolling their eyes.
Berdly narrowed his gaze but he reluctantly set the butt of his weapon down upon the ground, extending his hand and gesturing for Kris to go on. ``I suppose that I could allow you a chance to battle me with words. But I'll have you know that this is even more of a daunting fight than engaging in melee with me. I have over thirty-thousand Reddit karma and mod four different communities. I am not someone who shies away from the battlefield of ideas.''
``I know we're trying to fix this but please please pleaseeeee kill this guy, I'm begging you,'' the Soul chided, the pleading literally projected so shrilly into Kris? brain. ``I'll give you whatever you want.''
Kris glanced to their side. ``Will you fuck off for the rest of my life if I do it?''
``Okay, anything aside from that,'' the Soul replied.
``Who are you talking to, Kris?'' Berdly asked, smirking.
``No one,'' Kris quickly replied, running a hand through their hair. ``Look, I'm going to be honest with you. Noelle has been acting really funny for the last hour or so. And I'm talking funny peculiar here.''
``Hey!'' Noelle yelped.
Kris sighed. ``Am I wrong?''
``Well, no... but it's still rude to say it,'' Noelle grumbled, folding her arms in front of her chest as she scrunched her expression at them. At the very least, this disarmed the ice spell which had been brimming from her fingertips.
Berdly scoffed. ``Are you seriously going to blame all of these crimes upon, my dearest Noelle? I'm sorry Kris but you are drastically mismanaging this battle of ideas.''
``No, but for real,'' Kris tried, holding out their hands. ``She's been talking about getting stronger and just freezing everyone who we come across.''
``Mention the proceed thing,'' the Soul said.
Kris nodded. ``And she has this like MK Ultra kill phrase coded into her which seems to send her into a frenzy.''
``Kris, I hope you know that you are trying to sell a bridge to the wrong monster,'' Berdly declared. ``I know for a fact that Noelle has never done any psychoactive drugs and thus did not get MK Ultra-ed at any capacity.''
``Well, I wouldn't say never,'' Noelle said, grinning sheepishly.
Berdly glanced at her. ``What?''
``Huh?'' Kris asked.
``No way...'' the Soul added for good measure.
``What?'' Noelle blurted, grinning sheepishly at the trio. ``Catti is just really cool, you know?''
``How the fuck is Noelle cooler than me?'' Kris whispered.
``Regardless of this story or Noelle's newfound power level,'' Berdly began, snatching up his weapon. ``I suggest that we proceed with our battle.''
Noelle perked up, her eyes growing glassy. She lifted both hands, aiming them directly at Berdly who was utterly oblivious to this new development.
Kris frantically waved their hands through the air. ``No, no, no, don't say that word!''
``What word?'' Berdly asked, cocking a brow.
``The P-word,'' Kris hissed, thrusting a finger at Noelle. ``Down girl, down!''
Berdly cocked a brow. ``Proceed?''
``Don't say it again, you dumb prick!'' the Soul yelped.
Noelle's eyes brightened as she started to summon a snowstorm, the air itself growing so cold as a flurry took shape around them.
Berdly seemed to notice it as well; he quickly snapped around, yelping as he noticed Noelle's murderous glee. ``Oh fuck! She's totally MK Ultraed.''
``I told you!'' Kris shouted back.
The two of them started to backpedal, drawing away from Noelle as she inched forwards like a predator who wanted to devour its prey.
``Well make her stop!'' Berdly shouted as he glared at Kris.
``I would if I knew how!'' Kris replied with equal terror.
``Try the backwards thing,'' the Soul suggested.
``The backwards thing is not going to work, dude,'' Kris hissed.
``Who are you talking to?'' Berdly yelped, shaking his head. ``Is everyone losing their freaking minds here?''
Kris sighed. ``How would you even say the P-word backwards?''
The blizzard started to grow stronger still, enclosing the world at large. It was so cold that Kris began to shiver and so thick that they could barely make out Berdly through the solid wall of this relentless white flurry.
``Uh... Proceed...'' the Soul hummed and hawed. ``Try... Dee-corp? Like a dick corporation?''
Kris scoffed and cupped both of their shivering hands to their lips, shouting through the howl of the wind. ``DEE-CORP!''
There was a moment's pause and then the blizzard started to lift, leaving the room entirely with a thick coating of white. As the flurry started to disappear, Kris could see Noelle on her knees, looking at her hands.
``What have I done?'' she whispered.
``That fucking worked?'' Kris asked, shaking their head before laughing. ``No fucking way.''
``Yeah, I'll be honest, I didn't think that was going to work either,'' the Soul said, sounding stricken with awe. ``Is she okay?''
Noelle screamed and clutched her head, falling into the snow. ``What have I done?''
Kris winced and looked at Berdly who also didn't seem like he knew what to do. So, this made them the first to act as they came over, taking a knee beside her. ``Hey, hey, hey, mistakes happen. It's okay, Noelle, I promise.''
``I murdered people,'' Noelle whispered.
``Well...'' Kris pursed their lips together, nodding at that statement. ``Some mistakes are just a little bit bigger than others, you know?''
Berdly came over and took a knee as well. ``Is that really you, Noelle?''
``I think so...'' Noelle whispered, looking at him. ``Angel, I almost killed you.''
``Yeah, it was kind of cool,'' Berdly replied, grinning. ``That was honestly pretty anime of you.''
Noelle nodded, looking so hollow. ``It was pretty anime of me.''
Kris offered their hand and Noelle looked at it, taking it within a shaking palm and allowing them to help her out of the snow.
``What do we do now?'' Noelle asked.
Kris sighed and looked towards the room's exit. ``I guess we continue ahead.''
Berdly nodded. ``It's not that far to Queen's Castle. I'm sure that it'll only be a little while until we can get out of here and return to working on our school project.''
``School project,'' Noelle said, numbly nodding. ``Let's get back to that.''
Berdly scooped up his Halberd and marched ahead, taking the lead while the other two followed behind.
``By the way, I was doing some thinking about our project and I had an idea that was a little out of left field,'' Berdly said. ``I wanted to run it by you to make sure that you were okay with it too.''
Noelle lifted a brow. ``Go on?''
``This is going to be good,'' the Soul chided.
Kris glared at them.
Berdly drew in a breath. ``So, there's this new movement springing up which is really concerned about returning ethics to game journalism and-''
The distinct sound of an ice spell being cast punctuated the air, followed by a bright flash and then nothing but silence. Kris wasn't even totally aware that it happened until they noticed that there was now a large diamond of ice in the middle of the street with a familiar blue bird inside of it, staring out at them in utter horror.
``Oh no!'' Noelle yelped, looking left and then right before gasping dramatically. ``It seems there was some of that lingering MK Ultra still knocking around inside of my brain.'' She sighed and held a hand to her chest. ``Hopefully, it has now finally worked its way out of my system.
Kris opened their mouth to speak but simply nodded. ``Yep, must've been that last little whiff of the good ole fashion MK Ultra.''
``I'd say that we could totally chalk that up to MK Ultra,'' the Soul agreed, nodding without a head. ``Damn federal government and whatnot.''
